The subject matter disclosed within relates generally to a communication network, and particularly relates to the system, method and apparatus for supporting multiple network addressing modes to facilitate the assignment of network addresses to devices on a communication network.
A network system may be used for interconnecting devices for data exchange, often referred to as communications. The network system may include a number of devices greater than one device. Each device on the network is accessed with a network address, and the network address is unique across the address range of the network. There may be many methods to determine and assign network addresses to network devices. These methods are called addressing modes, and they may be automatic or manual.
Addressing modes may be used to assign addresses for multiple devices on a network based on the network topology, or they may be used to assign individual unique addresses to individual devices. However, technical challenges exist for providing a network system that offers the user a multitude of addressing mode options such as automatic addressing modes for addressing all devices on a network automatically based on network topology, automatic modes for addressing one or more newly added devices to an existing network based on next available address, automatic addressing modes for addressing devices on a network automatically by device type, and manual addressing modes that allow the user to individually assign addresses to individual devices either by sending addressing messages over the network or by physically setting device addresses via address switches or some other local addressing mechanism on a device. Providing this multitude of addressing modes aids in supporting the needs of the user throughout the life cycle of the network system.